Teachers in regular classrooms: An applied setting for successful behavior programming

An operant-based program was established to study the effectiveness of regular classroom teachers as mediators for behavior change in regular classroom settings. Fifty-nine first and second graders were matched on several measures and randomly assigned to an experimental condition or a control condition. Experimental children were addressed through teacher-generatedlconsultant-supported behavior intervention strategies. Changes in behavior were examined by assessing differences from initial baseline and from first to second administration of the Child Behavior Checklist. In- class behavior change was significantly greater for the experimental condition than for the control condition, although behavior change from first to second administration of the Child Behavior Checklist was significant for all groups. A moderate to high rate of compliance to the intervention program was maintained by teachers, and moderate to high ratings of satisfaction were obtained for the program from all participants. The effectiveness, feasibility, and applicability of the program are discussed.     

The Fakability of the Personality Orientation Inventory

Attempts to fake a good impression on the POI typically result in lower scores for subjects unknowledgeable in self-actualization, and in higher scores for knowledgable subjects. POI fakahility during counselor selection procedures was investigated through two test administrations with a group of 21 new graduate students in counseling. Subjects were not given self-actualization information. Scores under counselor selection fake-set procedures were significantly higher (p <. 05) on 4 of the 12 scales than scores obtained under standard testing instructions. The results imply new counseling students have sufficient information about self-actualization to dissimulate POI scores.     

An examination of differences in linguistic and meta-linguistic skills in English (FL) and Hebrew (L1): English intervention program for dyslexic,poor and normal readers

Abstract

This research examined differences between dyslexic, poor and normal readers who learn in the same educational framework, across various linguistic and meta-linguistic skills in Hebrew as the first language (L1) and English as a foreign language (FL), following an intervention program focusing on English linguistic skills. The participants included 124 sixth graders divided into an experimental and a control group, where each group was divided into dyslexic, poor and normal readers. The experimental group participated in an intervention program in English, constructed to the requirements of this research, in addition to the regular sixth-grade English curriculum. All participants were administered a battery of tests in English and Hebrew: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, orthography, decoding, word recognition, reading fluency, dictation, spelling and reading comprehension before and after the intervention program. More significant differences in most linguistic and meta-linguistic skills improvement in English and in Hebrew were found in the experimental group compared to the control group, with the most significant improvement exhibited by the dyslexic readers. The findings indicate the contribution of the intervention program in English for improving linguistic and meta-linguistic skills in both languages among all readers, and especially among dyslexic readers. Enlargement of the curriculum in English appears to expand their potential, and their improvement is better than that of the poor and normal readers.     

A Study of the Effects of Group Sensitivity Training with Student Counselor-Consultants

The use of group sensitivity training within a counselor education program was studied. It was hypothesized that participation would have a positive effect on participant self-concept, would increase the effectiveness of the participants in emitting the core dimensions of empathy, warmth, and genuineness during counseling, and would make the participants more effective in offering the core dimensions in counseling than would be members of a control group who did not receive such training. Members of a National Defense Education Act Institute for Counselor-Consultants were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. Measurements consisted of a self-report on self-concept and independent ratings of audiotapes based upon the core dimensions. Analysis of the data did not reveal significant findings, thus the hypotheses were not supported.     

California's emergency credential teachers: examining program conditions for sustainability and effectiveness

The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts—SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program evaluations to discuss the program goals and outcomes. It concludes with implications for the preparation of teachers of color and the institutional conditions needed to promote sustainability and teacher effectiveness. Three goals differentiated SITE from the regular program: (1) to create a one-year credential program to increase the yearly number of credentialed elementary teachers, (2) to offer a program for training the growing number of California's emergency credentialed teachers, and (3) to provide the contextual conditions and?culturally responsive curricular content needed for successful sustained service to children, especially those attending high-poverty, low performing urban schools.     

Father involvement program effects on fathers,father figures,and their head start children: a quasi-experimental study

An evaluation study was conducted to examine the effects of participation in a Head Start-based father involvement intervention program for fathers and their children. The study used a quasi-experimental research design that compared pretest and post-test measures for participants in four intervention sites against nonparticipants in geographically and demographically matched comparison (control) sites. The treatment and comparison groups were further divided into dosage groups based on the amount of time that fathers were involved in the program. The results suggest a positive association between high dosage participation in the intervention and increased father involvement with children at post-treatment. The children of high dosage intervention fathers also showed higher mathematics readiness change scores. Children in the low dosage comparison group showed a significant increase in behavior problems.     

Book review of The School-to-Work Revolution

Middle-school boys at risk for behavior problems participated in a program designed to teach positive skills and provide incentives for academic achievement and following school rules. The program was administered via an intramural basketball program, in which the program components were taught by a male teacher who served as the coach. Participation depended on maintaining appropriate levels of academic achievement and adhering to school rules. Students who failed to meet the criteria for continuing participation were suspended from the program and received tutoring and counseling instead, until they met the criteria for resuming participation. Compared to a control group of similar students, participants displayed a large reduction in disciplinary sanctions, and large to moderate gains in academic achievement in all subjects but 1. Both the participants and their teachers perceived significant improvement in the participants' behavior across a wide range of student characteristics.     

Outcomes of first year secondary students in a computer‐augmented physics program on measurement

Measurement is a foundational topic in secondary school physics that must be taught to all beginning secondary education students in Kenya. The secondary level offers education for students who are aged between 12‐ and 18‐years‐old. Physics teachers in the Rift Valley province identified the topic of measurement as an area that is difficult to teach through traditional methods. This study explored the effectiveness of a computer‐augmented physics (CAP) program on teaching the topic of measurement to first year secondary students. A total of 118 secondary education students (65 males and 53 females) participated in the study. They were randomly selected and randomly assigned to three similar classrooms situated in three schools easily accessible by the Njoro‐Menengai and Nakuru‐Marigat roads better and served as the treatment and control groups. Except for the treatment group, all groups received the same course content for a period of six weeks. The findings of the study affirmed the impact of innovation on the students’ learning outcomes in that the mean gains of the participants in the CAP treatment were significantly higher than that of their counterparts in the regular program. Also, the results indicated that the mean differences between the experimental group and the control group were statistically significant in favour of the treatment group. The findings also showed no relationship between the participants’ gender and their learning outcomes. The study concludes that the use of the computer to augment conventional physics teaching has major implications for secondary physics in this area.     

THE IMPACT OF AN INSERVICE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON THE GERONTOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF GERIATRIC RECREATIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS

The impact of an inservice program on practitioners’ gerontological knowledge and attitudes was examined. A nonequivalent control group design was used to conduct the study. The experimental group was made up of geriatric recreational service providers attending the first of two annual one‐week inservice educational programs. An outdoor resource management undergraduate level class served as the control group. The experimental group relative to the control group underwent a significant increase in their gerontological knowledge. Neither group experienced a significant change in their attitudes regarding the social value of the elderly or personal anxiety toward aging. The amount of change experienced in gerontological knowledge by program participants was significantly influenced by the degree of contact the individual had had with elders but not by their educational background. Educational background and degree of contact were not significantly associated with change in gerontological‐related attitudes. Implications for persons involved in designing and developing educational programs are discussed.     

A comparison of regular program and vocational program junior high school students on affective dimensions

The hypothesis that young adolescents in vocational education programs would differ from young adolescents in a regular program along several affective dimensions was examined. The Today Form of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) was administered twice during the school year to 111 students in a vocational program and to 50 students in regular classrooms. Dimensions of Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility were examined. Significant main effects for all three dimensions were noted for school program (regular vs. CVAE) and for grade (seventh vs. eighth). Students in the vocational program and those in seventh grade scored higher on Anxiety, Depression, and Hostility. These differences persisted across time, with the exception of Depression, for which there was a significant interaction between time (pretest vs. posttest) and school program (regular vs. CVAE), with regular students reporting increased depression at the second testing.     

Computer-Assisted Instruction on Study Skills

The study investigated the effectiveness of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) study skills program on students’ behaviors and attitudes. The subjects were 88 students (experimental group) who completed the CAI program and 67 students (control group) who did not have access to the program. All subjects responded three times during the semester to the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes inventory. Trend analyses revealed that during the semester the scores for the experimental group increased significantly and the scores for the control group decreased significantly. The findings showed that the CAI program can effectively present the information on effective study skills and how to develop such skills.     

Developing phonological awareness and word recognition skills: A two-year intervention with low-income,inner-city children

Low-income, inner-city children were involved in a two-year intervention delivered in the regular classroom by regular classroom teachers to develop phonological awareness and word recognition skills. For the treatment children, an 11-week phoneme awareness program in kindergarten was followed by a first grade reading program (extended to grade 2 for some children) that emphasized explicit, systematic instruction in the alphabetic code. Control children participated in the school district's regular basal reading program. Both groups participated in a phonetically-based spelling program mandated by the district. At the end of grade 1, treatment children (n = 66) significantly outperformed control children (n = 62) on measures of phonological awareness, letter name and letter sound knowledge, and three measures of word recognition, and reached marginal significance (0.056) on a fourth. They also significantly outperformed the control children on two measures of spelling. One year later, at the end of grade 2, the treatment children (n = 58) significantly outperformed the control children (n = 48) on all four measures of word recognition. For the groups as a whole, there were no differences on the one measure of spelling readministered at the end of grade 2. However, there were significant differences in spelling between the treatment (n = 16) and control children (n = 13) who remained in the bottom quartile of spellers at the end of grade 2 when partial credit was given for phonetically correct spelling, and significant differences in reading favoring these treatment children on all four measures of word recognition.     

Regular class teachers' perceptions of transition programs for EMR students and their impact on the students

This study was designed to obtain the perceptions of regular class teachers who taught children who had been in EMR programs, but had been decertified (D) and returned to regular classes in response to court cases and recent legislation. A cohort of regular class (RC) students were selected for comparative purposes. It was found that D students were placed into low ability classes; yet, teachers perceived D subjects to be significantly lower than RC students in both academic achievement and social acceptance. Only a small proportion of teachers indicated that the enrollment of D students had much impact on the regular class instructional program. However, the teachers were rather critical of the services received under the auspices of a transitional program, indicating in large part that the services were either not apparent or ineffective.     

Personal Growth of Counselor Trainees

This study compared the level of self-actualization of beginning and advanced students in a master's program in counselor education using the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI). The advanced students scored significantly higher than the beginning students on two POI Scales, Feeling Reactivity and Acceptance of Aggression. The beginning students were more like a sample of normal adults than a sample of self-actualizing persons; however, the advanced students were more like the self-actualizing group.     

Psychoeducational Support for Parents of Children with Intellectual Disability: An Outcome Study

The pressures frequently encountered by the parents of children with chronic conditions and the concomitant impact on family life have been well‐documented. Family‐focussed interventions have been advocated to address parents’ difficulties. The present evaluation study was undertaken to ascertain long‐term outcomes of the psychoeducational support program, Caring for Parent Caregivers. The aim of the program is to empower the individual and thereby strengthen family resources. Quantitative and qualitative analytical procedures, which included the written evaluations of treatment subjects, were employed to examine program effectiveness. For the fathers and mothers of children with disabilities, psychological health and well‐being was assessed on the General Health Questionnaire, using a pretest and follow‐up control group design. Results showed a statistically significant difference between groups, 12 months after treatment, with program participants displaying less emotional distress than control group subjects. The positive direction of behavioural and attitudinal outcomes, which emerged from evaluation of the small group intervention, were similar for both mothers and fathers. Overall satisfaction with the program was very high, with useful recommendations for program development and for future research and practice being identified.     

Theories of change and outcomes in home-based Early Head Start programs

Programs to promote children's early development are based on a set of assumptions, explicit or implicit, about intended outcomes and how the program will effect change. The “theories of change” were examined in ten home-based programs in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHSREP), using data collected through multiple interviews with program staff. All home-based programs indicated that parenting outcomes were among their highest three priorities, while only 4 of 10 programs said that child outcomes were in their top priorities. The pattern of outcome differences between randomly-assigned program and control group participants reflected the programs’ theories of change in several ways. Early Head Start home-based programs showed positive impacts on 9 of 9 parenting outcomes, including parental supportiveness, home language and learning supports, emotional responsiveness, and family conflict when children were 24 months of age. Significant program impacts on child cognitive skills (Bayley MDI scores) and social behavior (observed child engagement of parent during play) were found when children were 36 months of age. Mediation analyses showed that the 54% of the program impact on 36-month child cognitive scores was mediated by 24-month program impacts on parental supportiveness, language and learning support, emotional responsiveness, and family conflict, and 47% of the program impact on 36-month child engagement of parent was mediated by 24-month impacts on parental supportiveness, language and cognitive stimulation, and emotional responsiveness. Results from mediation analyses were consistent with these home-based programs’ theories of change, supporting the efficacy of focusing on parent change as a mechanism for child outcomes in home visiting programs.     

A coping-oriented group intervention for students waiting to undergo secondary school transition: Effects on coping strategies,self-esteem,and social anxiety symptoms

To facilitate students’ transition into secondary school, a coping-oriented group program was designed. Pre- and posttest data from three intervention groups conducted over the course of 5 weeks were combined for a total of 56 sixth-grade students waiting to undergo school transition. There was also a test–retest control group (n = 26). Results indicate that completion of the intervention led to a significant decrease on scales measuring self-reported social anxiety symptoms. There was also a significant increase in intervention participants’ self-reported self-esteem, likeability, adherence to social rules, and frequency of active coping strategies, compared with the control group. Furthermore, a regression analysis showed that change in the self-reported use of active coping strategies predicted change in social anxiety symptoms for the intervention group. However, no significant change in self-reported use of passive-avoidant coping was observed. We conclude that facilitating effective coping with stress may provide a highly beneficial perspective toward designing transition groups, that may also lead to a significant reduction in social anxiety symptoms in adolescents waiting to undergo secondary school transition.     

Learner control over full and lean computer-based instruction under differing ability levels

This study examined the effects of type of instructional control and program mode on the achievement, option use, time in the program, and attitudes of higher-ability and lower-ability university students. Ability level was determined using participants' Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing Assessment (ACT) scores. Participants were randomly assigned to four versions of a computer-delivered instructional program within higher-ability and lower-ability groups. The four versions of the instructional program were created by crossing the two control conditions (learner control, program control) with the two program modes (full, lean). Participants in the full program scored significantly higher on the posttest than those in the lean program, and higher-ability students scored significantly higher than lower-ability students. Learner-control participants chose to view 68% of the optional screens in the full program but only 35% in the lean one, and participants also spent significantly more time in the full version. Participants had more favorable attitudes toward learner control than program control.     

MEMORY TRAINING IN THE COMMUNITY: EVALUATIONS BY PARTICIPANTS AND EFFECTS ON METAMEMORY

This study examined 129 participants in seven types of memory training programs in Belgium. It was found that more than half of the subjects participated because they felt their memory was deteriorating or because they were afraid of memory deterioration. After completion of the program, subjects rated the training as being somewhat too short, as useful for their daily lives, as very pleasant, and as being of adequate difficulty. Almost all subjects indicated they would like to take part in a follow‐up training program. Forty‐one percent of the subjects indicated increased memory awareness as the main effect; other effects often cited included the discovery that subjects were not the only ones with complaints, increased knowledge of memory functioning, and the possibility for self‐development. However, no pre‐to‐posttraining effect could be found on scales of the Memory Functioning Questionnaire, except for a small (but significant) increase in self‐reported frequency of forgetting.     

Pushing to the edge: Rutgers astrophysics institute motivates talented high school students

The Rutgers Astrophysics Institute is a program in which gifted high school students learn about contemporary science and its methods, and conduct independent authentic research using real‐time data. The students use the processes of science to acquire knowledge, and serve as cognitive apprentices to an expert astrophysicist. A variety of naturalistic and statistical methods were employed to gather data concerning various changes in the students as a result of their participation in the institute. Specifically, we concluded that students were able to (a) distinguish between observational data and models, devise testing experiments, and reflect on the analysis and the interpretation of X‐ray data; (b) achieve results comparable to those of regular Advanced Placement (AP) students on individual AP exam problems (the students had not taken AP Physics), (c) engage in elements of meaningful authentic research, and (d) change their approaches toward learning science. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 958–985, 2003